Our family has been rebelling for generations, and you've become the top scholar in the imperia

Night falls.

Inside a house in Pingsha Pass.

Qin Feng was sitting on a stone bench, eating his meal with his head down.

The old general sitting opposite him liked Qin Feng more and more the more he looked at him. Although he was a scholar, he did not have the bad habits of scholars.

The people they brought along also sat wherever they pleased, without any regard for decorum.

Most importantly, this will change his temper.

He was decisive and ruthless; he said he would kill the officials in the prefecture, and he did just that.

In a few days, enough food will be gathered to defend the city.

If this kid hadn't gone on a killing spree, it would have been impossible to gather so much food.

"There is a problem with more than 6,000 weapons and cotton armor. This is no small matter, General. Although defending the city is easier, how can we defend it without weapons? Once the wild boars climb the city walls, we will inevitably have to fight them in close combat."

One afternoon.

The inventory of weapons within the entire Pingsha Pass has been completed, and there are a total of more than 6,000 sets of problematic weapons and cotton armor.

Most of them were concentrated on the troops from Dongliao Prefecture.

"We do have some spares, but gathering six thousand sets will be difficult. The entire border prefecture is rotten to the core. These officials will embezzle any amount of money. I..."

To be honest, General Gou, who lived in Chentuguan, couldn't possibly be unaware of this situation.

For the more than two thousand people in Chentu Pass, it was considered good if they received their pay every few months.

It's not that we haven't sent people to ask, but it's all in vain.

When asked, the prefectural officials said that the money from above had not yet been allocated.

I went to ask the higher-ups, and they said the silver was still in the Ministry of War.

To find out the specifics, you need to go to the capital and inquire with the Ministry of War.

As for replacing weapons, they haven't been replaced in several years.

The answer is to wait a little longer; the imperial court will send the silver soon.

"The problem is rotten to the core, but now is not the time to deal with these officials. The current priority is to stop the wild boars. If we can't stop them and Pingsha Pass falls, none of the other prefectures behind it will be able to hold them off."

Qin Feng handed the bowl and chopsticks to Cao Liang, then couldn't help but reach into his pocket, wanting to take out a cigarette and light it.

Suddenly I realized there was no smoke at all.

A bitter smile crept onto his lips.

"Weapons are acceptable, but I only need the pay..."

"What about weapons?"

General Gou frowned and hurriedly asked.

"Get them from Commander Ding. Doesn't he have troops? They must be well-equipped. Exchange them for weapons and have them send the weapons over."

Seeing that the old general opposite him didn't quite understand, he realized that the old general was not quite right.

Qin Feng stroked his chin and smiled.

He explained to the other party in detail that General Gou was indeed good at fighting, but when it came to playing mind games and engaging in court intrigues, to be honest, no military general could do it. Could a scholar outmaneuver a military general?

Otherwise, the power held by military officers would not have been gradually taken away by civil officials, and even in battles, a civil official would have to be dispatched as a supervisor, hindering them at every turn.

"The current situation is that, General, we need to admit that no one wants us to win, except for the Emperor. Even the civil officials in the court do not want us to win."

"They all deserve to die! How dare they!"

"General, please calm down. This is the truth. However, their reasons for not wanting us to win, yet not wanting us to lose, are related to them. This is why, even after killing so many officials, Ding Yitao was still willing to send grain over."

Qin Feng spoke in a low voice, slowly analyzing the situation.

I don't know when.

Several generals who were with General Gou also gathered around, squatting on either side, listening carefully to Qin Feng's analysis.

"Lord Qin, do you mean that as long as we report the matter of the weapons, Ding Yitao will replace our weapons?"

"yes!"

Qin Feng nodded with a smile.

"Of course, reporting directly won't work, and bypassing him won't work either. This matter needs to be reported with a memorial, preferably through the prefectural government, so that people find out about it unintentionally. The memorial will definitely be intercepted, but the weapons can definitely be exchanged successfully."

Being an official isn't easy.

It's not easy to be a good official.

Being a corrupt official isn't easy either.

Qin Feng felt that officials like Ding Yitao were probably feeling quite conflicted right now.

On the one hand, they didn't want them to win, but on the other hand, they had to bite the bullet and agree to their demands.

It is absolutely forbidden to let news of food shortages and inadequate weaponry reach the imperial court.

If Pingsha Pass falls due to these two reasons, all these officials will be purged, and none of them will escape punishment.

Therefore, his role as military supervisor is now becoming apparent.

If you need something, just ask Ding Yitao's people for it.

As long as the wild boar hide from the grasslands hasn't arrived, they'll probably meet most of the demands unless they're too outrageous.

"If we win, the grasslands will be pacified. What are these damned bastards thinking? Why don't they want to win? Wouldn't it be easier to govern the border if we won?"

Side view.

A burly young man scratched his head, clearly not understanding the connection between the two.

"Even you don't want to win."

Qin Feng helplessly spread his hands. After figuring this out, he was equally helpless. He could only say that the Great Zhou Dynasty had been at peace for too long.

Once these officials take the first step and embezzle a year's worth of silver, they will never be able to stop.

Moreover, officials from several prefectures are involved, which means there must be many people involved, including officials from the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue.

Even if Ding Yitao wanted to retire from his criminal activities right now, it wouldn't be possible; his subordinates wouldn't agree.

"Before I came here, I inquired in detail about the amount of silver the court allocated to the border region each year. The total amount of silver, including grain and salary, weapons replacement, pensions, and subsidies for trade, is more than 2.6 million taels."

"It seems that the silver used for border defense is no more than 600,000 taels. The remaining 2 million taels will, barring any unforeseen circumstances, be divided up among these people from top to bottom."

These words were spoken.

A collective gasp filled the air.

Two million taels a year!

"Why is there so much silver every year? It's because the wild boars on the grasslands are a menacing threat, and the imperial court doesn't want to fight, so it has to invest silver every year."

"You're saying, two million taels of silver a year! You're a commander, an official in the border prefecture. There hasn't been a war for so many years, and you can get this silver for free every year without any risk. Do you want the grasslands to continue like this, or do you want the grasslands to be pacified?"

"Of course, it would be best if there was money to be made."

silence.

The entire courtyard fell silent.

No one expected that Qin Feng's analysis would lead to this result.

"Therefore, they want us to lose, but they don't want to get involved. If the emperor is furious, it won't affect them. So, in the meantime, as long as we don't touch the wild boar hide, Ding Yitao should be able to provide whatever we want."

"Six thousand sets of weapons are nothing."

"but……"

Speaking of it.

Qin Feng's expression darkened.

"Once Wild Boars arrive, these people will probably do everything they can to prevent us from defending the city, and the most crucial thing is food supplies."

Do you really think he wasted all those time watching historical dramas?

No matter how strong the wild boar hide is, it's not easy to conquer a city.

But what if there's a problem with the food supply in the city?

That's hard to say.